Washington, Dec 20 : An American academic has discovered some radical ideas on women”s equality in the works of a Muslim author penned during 1872 to 1900.

The expert has written an article about his findings that will appear in the January 2010 issue of Middle Eastern Studies, a British academic journal published in London.

Dr. George Gawrych, a professor of history professor at Baylor University, reviewed the works of Albanian novelist and playwright Semseddin Sami Frasheri and found that he saw women as “equal but different.”

This was a revolutionary point of view in the patriarchal society of the time.

Gawrych, who received a Fulbright Senior Researcher Scholar grant for 2008-2009, was in Turkey to study about Ataturk and the War of Independence waged from 1919 to 1923.

While studying about Albanians under Ottoman rule, Gawrych came across Semseddin Sami”s ideas in an 1879 published book titled Women.

Gawrych went on to read Sami’s novel on arranged marriages and reviewed entries about women in his six-volume encyclopaedia on the world.

Talking about Sami”s thought, Gawrych said: “He was a Muslim who in his novel briefly gave an image of a wife having an education and discussing child-rearing with her husband.

“But there are lots of nuances beyond that in his book.”

In his encyclopedia, Sami wrote a three-column entry on George Sands, a female French writer.

Not “George Sands”, but George Sand; pseudonym of Amantine (also “Amandine”) Aurore Lucile Dupin; a socialist.

In Sami”s opinion she was a better writer than most of her male peers, but she wrote using a man”s name because it was easier than being a female writer.

Gawrych said: “He (Semseddin Sami) was expressing some revolutionary ideas through her in the encyclopedia, which censors let get by.”

According to Gawrych, Sami stated unequivocally that women must have equal rights, education and freedom to work like men. He was, however, patriarchal in his view in so far as he considered men should be protectors of the society.

In a society where having multiple wives was permissible, Sami said that a second wife is not good for the marriage and the children, “although he reluctantly accepted the possibility of a second wife if the first could not produce the children and if the first wife gave her permission,” Gawrych said.

Sami married a Turk in 1884. Gawrych pointed out that a posed photo of the pair shows Sami”s convictions.

The snap shows Sami”s wife unveiled and wearing European clothes. She sits next to him with her left hand resting next to his with three books directly behind their elbows.

Gawrych sees the photo as meaning that “their marriage is going to be one of equal minds.”

He added: “He gave his daughters a progressive education through tutors. He was still a patriarch but at the same time pushing the envelope.”

French philosopher says feminism under threat from ‘good motherhood’: here.

Like other bird species which migrate between Europe and Africa, Common Swift Apus apus numbers have been falling rapidly. According to the UK Breeding Bird Survey Swifts in Britain declined by 29% between 1995 and 2008: here.

WAILUKU, Maui – The critically endangered Maui parrotbill is apparently doing quite well, perhaps even thriving, in the The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii’s Waikamoi Preserve, according a report issued this week.

Nature Conservancy scientists estimated there are about 20 of the chunky yellowish, insect-eating birds per square kilometer in the windward preserve near the summit of Haleakala. That means the estimated population of about 500 is holding steady or possibly even increasing, said Nature Conservancy of Hawaii spokesman Grady Timmons on Friday.

“It was very encouraging because they only have a natural habitat of about 19 square miles, all located in East Maui,” Timmons said.

How much the parrotbill population increased is difficult to say, the scientists said, since the last survey was not as extensive. But they said they are certain that the numbers are as good or getting better.

The bird, which is a member of the Native Hawaiian honeycreeper species, has been relegated to the higher elevations since its natural habitat has been damaged over the years by agriculture and development, he said. Avian flu, malaria and rats that eat the birds’ eggs also have taken a toll, Timmons said.

Ornithologist Dusti Becker, who is project coordinator for the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, said she was surprised by the results of the population survey, which she led.

“I didn’t expect that there would be that many birds there,” she said.

A previous study had placed the density of the bird population at about half of what the most recent survey found. However, scientists cautioned that the findings were limited to a two-week survey done in September.

Still, the survey area is 400 acres between the Waikamoi Stream and Koolau Gap, and the two-person teams reported hearing or seeing dozens of parrotbills, including juvenile birds.

The scientists hypothesized that Nature Conservancy efforts in recent years to fence off the preserve from wild pigs and goats and remove invasive plants and replace them with native species likely contributed to the parrotbill population hike. For instance, native shrub cover in Waikamoi has tripled in the past 15 years.

And the parrotbills mostly eat grubs found in the shrubs’ fruit, according to the report.

The Waikamoi Preserve is 5,230 acres. The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii has been managing the property, which is owned by Haleakala Ranch, since the nonprofit received a permanent conservation easement from the ranch in 1983.

About 25 percent of the parrotbill population is found in Waikamoi and most of the rest is in the Hanawi Natural Area Reserve in East Maui, also on the slopes of Haleakala.

The birds were once found throughout Maui and Molokai. The parrotbill is only 5 to 6 inches long and gets its name from the parrot shape of its bill. The birds are olive green on top and have a yellowish belly and distinctive yellow stripe over their eyes.

The bills, which Timmons compared to can openers, are incredibly strong and able to pry open bark to reach insects and grubs.

“The typical story line with endangered forest birds is one of decline,” said Sam Gon, The Nature Conservancy’s senior scientist and cultural adviser. “To have an endangered bird maintain its population and perhaps even show signs of increasing is very encouraging and cause for celebration.”

Nature Conservancy scientists noted that the po’ouli bird, which lived in the same preserve, may be extinct. The last pair of po’ouli birds was last seen in 2004.

Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is one of the few natural wetlands remaining in the Hawaiian Islands. Located along the south central coast of the island of Maui between the towns of Kihei and Ma’alaea, this 691-acre wetland is home to the endangered Hawaiian stilt (ae’o) and Hawaiian coot (‘alae ke oke’o). The refuge is adjacent to Kealia Beach, which is a nesting ground for the endangered hawksbill turtle: here.